Screenwriting : Today's Wish and Creative Tip by Laurie Ashbourne

What is the most engaging way to open? Writers are often commanded to start with a page one bang, and though that may be engaging, one page (or ten) does not a compelling story make. Internal jeopardy of your character will do more to create dramatic tension in the 1st act than anything you can blow up, crash or burn.   These things are jolting as catalysts but if that's the hinge to the audience’s emotional connection the engagement will fade quickly as will the box office mojo. There is a way to do both – a combustion created by an internal fuse – do that, and you're solid gold. But it’s the first pages you argue…  Therein lies the rub of the difficulty in what we do. Showing us a universal plight that clearly puts your character in both emotional and physical jeopardy takes some serious study in human nature. Be a sponge of all walks of life and wring it out on the page. Old Looney Tunes do this very well. Keep a stash of post-its, photos or whatever your jotting mechanism of choice is – this is your Acme warehouse. It’s okay to introduce your character with the physical jeopardy, but quickly get us in their head of how that lights their internal fuse (or vice versa), and ideally within the first ten or so pages. Today, I challenge you to have a good day and find a nugget of inspiration in your most mundane task.